Aerial image projection systems are known in the art. Such systems utilize a plurality of optical elements such as mirrors, Fresnel lenses, beamsplitters, light valves, and optical filters and/or polarizers to project an image of an object into space. The optical elements and the object are positioned in a housing to define an optical path. Depending on the arrangement and selection of the optical elements, the projected image is visible either within the dimensions of the housing or some distance in front of the housing. Examples of aerial projection systems include U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,716, issued Nov. 16, 2004, U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,268, issued Oct. 26, 2004, U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,818, issued May 27, 2003, U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,357, issued May 10, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,934, issued Sep. 3, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,750, issued Feb. 7, 1989, and U.S. Pat. Des. No. 435,043 issued Dec. 12, 2000.
Typical limitations of the methods and systems of the prior art include high cost of the optical components, heavy weight, high requirements for precision alignment and to the optical quality of the components, usage of three-dimensional objects rather than video displays as the source of the image, and various quality problems such as undesirable reflections and the visibility of the display boundaries. In addition, many prior art systems might be a source of potential fire and/or eye damage hazard due to ambient sunlight, since both the source (object or screen) and the projected image may be close to focal surfaces of the mirrors and other light focusing elements, and the focal surfaces of the components and the system as a whole may come in close contact with the housing.